1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a health care system and a method for the administration thereof by a providing entity, wherein a plurality of subscribers desirous of health care service are profiled according to personal characteristics and assigned a treatment regimen dependent on medical needs, preferably even before they exhibit a need for any health care services. A motivating incentive system is implemented to facilitate compliance with the assigned treatment regimen and involves the assignment of both credits and penalties to the subscriber based on the degree of compliance with the corresponding treatment regimen. Motivational awards are provided to the subscriber evidencing a satisfactory compliance with the assigned treatment regimen and ensuring in the best possible manner the effectiveness of preventative, family and community medicine plans.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many business and operational arrangements have been designed in the past for delivering health services to subscribers. Health maintenance organizations have been created with different philosophies to accomplish this at a minimum cost. However, systems that include incentives to their subscribers constitute a minority. None of them, however, include a system that issues credits as equity units in the use of the system when a subscriber complies with a sequence of events associated with the profile and/or treatment regimen in which he/she has been classified.
One of these incentive systems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,045 issued to Biorge et al. in 1998, and directed to a method and system for allocating and redeeming incentive credits between a portable device and a base device. This system is typical in that it accumulates credits that can be redeemed in subsequent transactions. However, the system and method of this patent is absent the classification of subscribers or users under a particular profile that requires them to perform certain acts for the incentives to be awarded, as it is the case in the present invention, as will be described hereinafter.
Applicant believes that another of these systems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,105 issued to Cummings, Jr. in Apr. 5, 1994 for All Care Health Management System. The Cumming's system describes a fully integrated health care system and its interaction of the patient, health care provider, financially institution, etc. However, Cumming's system differs in many ways from the present invention including, but not limited to, a failure to issue credits as equity units or interests in the providing entity or the awarding of penalties to the participants.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention, which, among other benefits, involves all of the subscribers, in the system of incentives and penalties, and in addition to providing health benefits according to the subscriber's medical profile, provides a parallel for capitalization that is created with the economic funds assigned for the implementation of the incentives and penalties system, enabling in some instances a loan company to participate in the health services by mutual agreement and as permitted by law and other regulations.